Report from the 3rd Calisia Conference on Family Health, Kalisz, Poland, 18-20 June 2023

CONFERENCE OUTLINE

The 3^rd World Conference on Family Health, which took place at Calisia University on 18-20 June 2023, built upon the deliberations initiated during two previous editions in 2019 [1] and 2021 [2]. This year the main conference theme was the “Status of public health in Poland”. The meeting was organized by the Institute – European Observatory of Health Inequalities at Calisia University and held under the honorary patronage of the Polish Ministry of Education and Science, the Ministry of Family and Social Policy and the Ministry of Health, with funding from the “Doskonała Nauka” Programme of the Ministry of Education and Science. During the Inaugural Ceremony, a letter to the partici­pants of the conference from Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki was read out, including the following words of support:
“Being aware of how important the health of citizens is, I would like to thank you for organizing this conference. (...) I believe that coming days will be a time of fruitful deliberations and inspiring talks. I am convinced that the conclusions and solutions developed here will be an important voice in the discussion on public health both in Poland and in the world”.
The Inaugural Ceremony also included the awarding of titles of Doctor Honoris Causa posthumously to two scholars who, in addition to their enormous academic contributions, also participated in previous editions of the Conference. In a letter from Przemysław Czarnek, Minister of Education and Science, provided words of support for the conference and the awarding of hono­rary titles:
“I would like to thank Your Magnificence for honouring the title of doctor honoris causa of the Calisia University posthumously to prof. Peter Boyle and dr. Mateusz Zatoński. I deeply believe that this symbolic ceremony will become a great opportunity to manifest the beauty of science, which was the passion of both: an internationally renowned epidemiologist and a world-renowned political scientist and health historian”.
The two-day meeting that followed focused on the evolution of population health in Poland with a particular focus on the current health recession. While substantial improvement in health was observed after the political and socio-economic transformation of the 1990s, this trend subsequently slowed and eventually halted. The stalled progress is clearly visible in recent trends towards decreasing life expectancy. Conference presentations and discussion summarised current knowledge regarding changes in public health policy, risk factors (tobacco, alcohol, diet and coronavirus), and the burden of related diseases that have shaped the epidemiology and current public health status of Poland (see Box 1 with program of the conference).
The conference included presentations from 37 scientists and public health experts from Italy, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Ukraine, United Kingdom, and the United States (see Box 2). The conference was presented in a hybrid mode, with both in-person and remote participation. It is worth emphasizing that almost 200 people participated on site in Kalisz while the online audience included almost 300 participants, including students of health sciences and research and teaching staff from multiple institutions.

BOX 1. CALISIA CONFERENCE PROGRAMME OUTLINE

Day 1: 18 June 2023 – Inaugural ceremony

Meeting of the Senate of the Calisia University – Kalisz, Poland and the inauguration of the 3rd World Confe­rence on Family Health “State of public health in Poland”
Conferment of the Honorary Degree of Doctor Honoris Causa of Calisia University – Kalisz, Poland upon Professor Peter Boyle, FRSE, FFPH, FRCPS(Glas), FRCP(Edin), FMesSci and Doctor Mateusz Zygmunt Zatoński, PhD, MA(Hons), MA, MSc(PH), AFHEA
Keynote lecture: Crimes against humanity, war crimes and jurisdiction – Professor Theodor Meron, Doctor Honoris Causa of the Calisia University – Kalisz, Poland

Day 2: 19 June 2023 – Scientific meeting

Pre-conference Session: War and accountability in Ukraine

Chairperson: Dr. Ewa Salkiewicz-Munnerlyn, Calisia University, Poland
1. Accountability in present day international law – Prof. Olga Butkevych, Ukrainian Association of International Law, Ukraine
2. Can Russia’s UN veto be removed? – Dr. Ewa Sałkiewicz-Munnerlyn, Calisia University, Kalisz, Poland
3. Between war crime and genocide, humanitarian international law and the war in Ukraine – Bartłomiej Żyłka, European Society of International Law (ESIL), International Society of Public Law (ICON Society), Poland
4. Digital information and contextual dashboards for local healthcare – a mindmap and application of spatial coronametrics – Prof. Peter Niijkamp, Open University, Heerlen, the Netherlands, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, Iasi, Romania

State of public health in Poland Opening Session

Welcome addresses: Prof. Andrzej Wojtyła, Rector of the Calisia University, Kalisz, Poland; Prof. Witold Zatoń­ski, Director of the Institute – European Observatory of Health Inequalities, Calisia University, Kalisz, Poland; Prof. Martin Gorsky, Centre for History in Public Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK; Prof. Aurelijus Veryga, Member of Parliament of the Republic of Lithuania, former Minister of Health, Lithuania

Session 1: Public health – panel discussion

Chairpersons: Prof. Martin Gorsky, Centre for History in Public Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropi­cal Medicine, UK; Prof. Katarzyna Sygit, Calisia University, Kalisz, Poland
1. The role of historical research in public health – Prof. Martin Gorsky, Centre for History in Public Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK
2. The role of public health science in Poland – Prof. Janusz Szymborski, Institute – European Observatory of Health Inequalities, Calisia University, Kalisz, Poland
3. The role of public health science in building health in UK, Poland, Europe – Prof. Martin McKee, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK
4. Opportunities and pitfalls in tobacco control: lessons from the UK – Prof. Robert West, Institute of Epidemiology and Healthcare at University College London, UK
5. Role of public health in controlling burden of alcohol-related harm – Dr. Mindaugas Štelemėkas, Health Research Institute, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Kaunas, Lithuania
6. The role of prospective cohort studies in public health – Prof. Katarzyna Zatońska, Department of Population Health, Medical University of Wrocław, Poland
7. Public health in Poland. Challenges – Prof. Tomasz Zdrojewski, Department of Hypertension and Diabetology, Medical University of Gdansk, Poland

Session 2: Health recession. Development of health situation in Poland

Chairpersons: Prof. Witold Zatoński, Institute – European Observatory of Health Inequalities, Calisia University, Kalisz, Poland; Dr. Alicja Basiak-Rasała, Department of Population Health, Medical University of Wrocław, Poland
1. Health recession in Poland – Prof. Witold Zatoński, Institute – European Observatory of Health Inequalities, Calisia University, Kalisz, Poland
2. Alcohol consumption and epidemiology of alcoholic liver cirrhosis in Poland – Kinga Janik-Koncewicz, Institute – European Observatory of Health Inequalities, Calisia University, Kalisz, Poland
3. Cardiovascular diseases in Poland – prof. Piotr Jankowski, Department of Internal Medicine and Geriatric Cardiology, Center of Postgraduate Medical Education, Warsaw, Poland
4. Affordability of alcohol and cigarettes in Poland – Dr. Jarosław Neneman, Department of Institutional Economics and Microeconomics, Faculty of Economics and Sociology, University of Lodz, Poland
5. What next with health recession in Poland? – Prof. Tomasz Zdrojewski, Department of Preventive Medicine & Education, Medical University of Gdańsk, Poland

Day 3: 20 June 2023 – Scientific meeting, cont.

Session 3: Treatment of tobacco dependence/Cytisine; History, Methods and Future of Tobacco Control and Treatment

Chairpersons: Dr. Britta Matthes and Adam Bertscher, Tobacco Control Research Group (TCRG), Department for Health, University of Bath, UK; Prof. Łukasz Balwicki, Department of Public Health & Social Medicine, Medical University of Gdansk, Poland
1. Introduction – Prof. Anna Gilmore, Tobacco Control Research Group (TCRG), Department for Health, University of Bath, UK
2. Research on flavours and menthol in tobacco – Christina Kyriakos, Department of Primary Care and Public Health, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, UK, Dr. Rosemary Hiscock, TCRG
3. The UK Tobacco Industry Interference Index – Dr. Raouf Alebshehy, TCRG
4. The Polish Tobacco Industry Interference Index – Prof. Łukasz Balwicki, Department of Public Health & Social Medicine, Medical University of Gdansk, Poland
5. Tobacco industry interference in low- and middle-income countries: Adapting the Policy Dystopia Model – Dr. Britta Matthes, TCRG
6. Identifying the tobacco industry’s long term-policy influence strategies – Dr. Allen Gallagher, TCRG
7. Exploring tobacco industry interference in South Africa – Dr. Britta Matthes, TCRG, Adam Bertscher, TCRG
8. How do we address industry influence on policy? – Adam Bertscher, TCRG
9. Personal reflections from collaborators (introduced by Britta Matthes and Adam Bertscher)

Session 5: Essential nutrients and health

Chairpersons: Kinga Janik-Koncewicz, Institute – European Observatory of Health Inequalities, Calisia University, Kalisz, Poland; Dr. Mindaugas Štelemėkas, Health Research Institute, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Kaunas, Lithuania
1. Fats and cardiovascular health in Poland – Prof. Witold Zatoński, Institute – European Observatory of Health Inequalities, Calisia University, Kalisz, Poland
2. Dieting mistakes and health consequences. Nutritional changes during COVID pandemic in Poland – Dr. Anna Harton, Department of Dietetics, Institute Of Human Nutrition Sciences, Warsaw University Of Life Sciences, Poland
3. Current nutritional status of Polish population – Dr. Danuta Gajewska, Department of Dietetics, Institute of Human Nutrition Sciences, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Poland
4. Nutrients and prevention of CVD – PURE PL – Dr. Katarzyna Połtyn-Zaradna, Department of Population Health, Medical University of Wrocław, Poland
5. Nutritional immunity modifiers – Prof. Hanna Krauss, Institute of Collaboration with the International Institute for Preventive Research, Calisia University, Kalisz, Poland

Session 6: Inequalities: Methods, Tobacco, Alcohol

Chairpersons: Dr. Mark Parascandola, Center for Global Health, National Cancer Institute, USA; Dr. Krzysztof Przewoźniak, Institute of Family Health, Calisia University, Kalisz, Poland
1. Tobacco control in Poland: Mateusz Zygmunt Zatoński PhD (Philosophy Doctorate) overview. Lecture from San Francisco, January 31^st, 2017 – presented by prof. Witold Zatoński, Institute – European Observatory of Health Inequalities, Calisia University, Kalisz, Poland
2. Tobacco control in Poland – inequalities, urgent needs and new challenges – Dr. Krzysztof Przewoźniak, National Research Institute of Oncology, Warsaw, and Institute of Family Health, Calisia University, Kalisz, Poland
3. Inequalities in tobacco use in the US – Dr. Mark Parascandola, Center for Global Health, National Cancer Institute, USA
4. Inequalities by education in alcoholic liver cirrhosis in Poland – Prof. Małgorzata Pikala, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Medical University of Łódź, Poland
>5. Nicotine delivery device (e-cigarette, etc.) use among children in Poland – Prof. Łukasz Balwicki, Department of Public Health & Social Medicine, Medical University of Gdansk, Poland
6. Alcohol consumption and trends of alcoholic liver cirrhosis in Poland and Lithuania – Dr. Mindaugas Stelemekas et al., Health Research Institute, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Kaunas, Lithuania
7. European Network for Smoking and Tobacco Prevention - a focal point for tobacco control in Europe – Dr. Krzysztof Przewoźniak, National Research Institute of Oncology, Warsaw, and Institute of Family Health, Calisia University, Kalisz, Poland, Cornel Radu-Loghin, ENSP

Session 7: COVID-19, infodemic

Chairpersons: Dr. Andrzej Trybusz, Calisia University, Kalisz, Poland; Dr. Aneta Tomaszewska, Medical University of Warsaw, Poland
1. COVID Norway – Prof. Frode Forland, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway
2. Trends in COVID-19 and excess mortality in 2020-2023 with focus on Italy – Prof. Carlo La Vecchia, Department of Clinical Sciences and Community Health, University of Milan, Italy
3. The course of coronavirus pandemic in Poland – Kinga Janik-Koncewicz, Institute – European Observatory of Health Inequalities, Calisia University, Kalisz, Poland
4. The evolving COVID infodemic in the US – Dr. Mark Parascandola, Center for Global Health, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, USA
5. Why do people believe medical misinformation? MedFake study results – Dr. Aneta Tomaszewska, Dr. Filip Raciborski, Department of Prevention of Environmental Hazards, Allergology and Immunology, Medical University of Warsaw, Poland
6. Incidence of adverse post-vaccination reactions and adverse medical events after COVID-19 vaccinations in Poland – Prof. Paulina Wojtyła-Buciora, Department of Health Sciences, Calisia University, Kalisz, Poland

Closing remarks

Chairpersons: Andrzej Wojtyła, Rector of Calisia University, Kalisz, Poland; Witold Zatoński, Institute-European Observatory of Health Inequalities, Calisia University, Kalisz, Poland

BOX 2. SPEAKERS AT THE CALISIA WORLD CONFERENCE ON FAMILY HEALTH (IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER)

Raouf Alebshehy, PhD, is a public health consultant with a background in medicine and healthcare reform. He currently works as managing editor of Tobacco Tactics – part of the Tobacco Control Research Group at the University of Bath. He manages a team interested in maximizing the impact of tobacco control policies through monitoring and countering tobacco industry interferences. Raouf worked in international public health policy, including with the World Health Organization, and the Secretariat of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. He worked in planning, managing, monitoring, and evaluating health programs in fields of communicable diseases, NCDs, health systems development, health promotion, and quality management. He also has field experience as primary healthcare physician and has coordinated health projects with public sector, NGOs, and UN agencies.
Łukasz Balwicki, MD, PhD, Assoc. Prof. – head of the Department of Public Health and Social Medicine, Medical University of Gdansk. His research interests include tobacco control, smoking prevalence and smoking cessation as well as e-cigarette use. He is the expert cooperating with Polish Ministry of Health, WHO, European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies.
Alicja Basiak-Rasała, PhD, works as a Research Assistant in the Department of Population Health at Wrocław Medical University in Poland. She pursued BSc and MSc degrees in Clinical Dietetics and Nutrition from Wroclaw Medical University. She is engaged as a researcher in several population studies conducted in the Department, including the Polish cohort of the Prospective Urban and Rural Epidemiological Study and Population Cohort study of Wroclaw Citizens (PICTURE). Her work, both scientific and didactic, focuses on epidemiology and prevention of noncommunicable diseases, nutrition and public health.
Adam Bertscher is a PhD candidate in the Tobacco Control Research Group at University of Bath. His research focuses on ways to prevent and mitigate the negative impacts from the political and commercial determinants of health. Prior to beginning his PhD, Adam worked on public policy issues concerning South Africa, the UK, and European Union at universities and policy research organisations. He is currently undertaking an internship with UK Parliament and teaches health policy related topics to undergraduates and graduates. He holds an MPH and BSocSci from University of Cape Town, and a BA honours from University of South Africa.
Olga V. Butkevych, Professor, President of the Ukrainian Association of International Law. Chief editor of the Ukrainian Journal of International Law. She was born in 16.09.1977 (Kyiv, Ukraine). Since September 2014, she has been a member of the International Law Council at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. Author of 4 individual and 10 collective monographs, 4 textbooks and over 100 publications in the field of general theory and history of international law, international treaty law, international humanitarian law, international human rights, issues of contemporary international law, Ukraine’s international legal activity and correlation between international and municipal legal systems, issued e.g. in Ukraine, France, Russia, Georgia, Lithuania, Belgium and the USA.
Frode Forland is a Scientific Director of Infectious Diseases and Global Health at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH), currently based in Addis Ababa as a seconded Advisor to Africa CDC. He is an MD with a specialty in Public Health and General Practice. Previous Associate Professor in Public Health at the University of Tromsø. He has working and leadership experience in the field of PH and Infectious diseases for more than 30 years including in Evidence Based Methods for Public Health. During the COVID-19 pandemic he was part of the leadership group of the NIPH, and he was frequently used as a spokesman in the media. His role in Africa CDC is to lay the foundation for a long term and respectful partnership between the Norwegian Institute of Public Health and Africa CDC.
Allen Gallagher is a research fellow at the Tobacco Control Research Group (TCRG) at the University of Bath, UK. Allen has a BA and MSc. from the University of the West of Scotland (UWS), and a PhD from the University of Bath. While interested in various issues related to tobacco control and commercial determinants of health, Allen’s primary research focus to date has been to explore contemporary tobacco industry involvement in the illicit tobacco trade and related policy, with him having given evidence on this topic at the European Parliament and having contributed to the UK chapter of the World Bank’s global review of country experiences confronting illicit tobacco trade.
Martin Gorsky is Professor of History in the Centre for History in Public Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. He has a PhD from the University of Bristol where he previously worked. His research examines the history of different aspects of public health and health services, including: charity and British hospitals; patterns of morbidity during the mortality transition; the origins of sickness insurance; public health posters in Poland; health policy-making in Britain and New Zealand since 1948; and the intellectual and policy history of ‘health systems’. His latest book is The Political Economy of the Hospital in History (2020).
Anna Harton, PhD, Assistant professor at the Department of Dietetics at the Institute of Human Nutrition Sciences at the Warsaw University of Life Sciences, member of the Polish Society of Dietetics. Author of about 100 scientific articles. Author, co-author and consultant of educational programs and popular articles in the field of human nutrition and dietetics. Scientific interests: dietary prevention and dietotherapy of diet-dependent diseases.
Aleksandra Herbeć, holds PhD in Health Psychology, Behavioural Science and Digital health from University College London (2019). She specialises in mixed methods research, public health, tobacco control and smoking cessation, digital interventions, and behavioural change among healthcare professionals, patients and the general public. Since 2020 she has been co-leading on the Health Behaviours during the COVID-19 (HEBECO) pandemic epidemiological study in the UK. Aleksandra currently heads the Secretariat for the Independent Review on Equity in Medical Devices at the Medical Technologies Directorate at the Department of Health and Social Care in the UK and is a Research Fellow at Calisia University – Kalisz, Poland. Since 2009 she has been affiliated with the Health Promotion Foundation in Poland.
Kinga Janik-Koncewicz, (MSc, PhD student) is a research assistant at the Institute – European Observatory of Health Inequalities, Calisia University, Kalisz, Poland. Her main interest is monitoring consumption of tobacco and alcohol and epidemiology of tobacco- and alcohol-related health burden in Poland. She’s a Lead Assistant Editor at the “Journal of Health Inequalities” and Project Director at the Health Promotion Foundation.
Piotr Jankowski, MD, PhD, professor at the Centre of Postgraduate Medical Education in Warsaw, head of the Department of Geriatric Cardiology and Department of Epidemiology and Health Promotion CMKP, until 2020 professor at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków (Poland), cardiologist. Secretary (2017-2019) and member of the Board (from 2011 to 2015) of the Polish Cardiac Society, chairman of the Health Promotion Committee of the Polish Cardiac Society (2011-2017 and from 2021). Author of over 450 scientific contributions, co-author of a number of scientific and clinical statements and guidelines. Laureate of numerous scientific awards. President of the Board of the “Zdrowie Publiczne” Foundation.
Christina Kyriakos is a PhD candidate at Imperial College London, School of Public Health. Her doctoral research is focused on evaluating the implementation and impact of tobacco control policies banning menthol and other flavours. Christina has experience working on tobacco control research projects in the EU, UK, and the USA. She was the Project Manager of the Horizon2020 project EUREST-PLUS (European Regulatory Science on Tobacco: Policy implementation to reduce lung diseases). Christina received her MPH from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health in the City of New York.
Carlo La Vecchia is Professor of Medical Statistics and Epidemiology at the School of Medicine at the University of Milan. Dr La Vecchia serves as an editor for numerous clinical and epidemiologic journals. He is among the most renowned and productive epidemiologists in the field with over 2,090 peer-reviewed papers in the litera­ture and is among the most highly cited medical researchers in the world.
Gary Macfarlane is Dean for Interdisciplinary Research and Research Impact. He has also held the Chair in Epidemiology (Clinical) at The University of Aberdeen since 2005 and previously held the same post at The University of Manchester from 1999. He is an Honorary Consultant in the Department of Public Health in NHS Grampian. Professor Macfarlane is Co-Director of the Versus Arthritis/Medical Research Council Centre for Musculoskeletal Health and Work and holds a Visiting Professor position at the University of Southampton. He trained in Statistics/ Computing Science and then Medicine at The University of Glasgow before undertaking his PhD at The University of Bristol. He worked at the Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the European Institute of Oncology in Milan before leading a programme of chronic pain research at the Arthritis Research UK Epidemiology Unit at the University of Manchester. He leads the Epidemiology group at the University of Aberdeen which focusses its research in Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Diseases (RMD.
Britta K. Matthes (PhD) is a Research Associate in the Tobacco Control Research Group at the University of Bath, UK. She is interested in the commercial determinants of health and how commercial actors influence policy and what is and can be done about it. Her research focuses on tobacco industry interference in policymaking, and the role of tobacco control advocacy. She also works on intimidation in tobacco control and other areas of public health. Britta holds a PhD in Social and Policy Sciences from the University of Bath, UK and is an alumnus of the Erasmus Mundus Masters in Public Policy.
Martin McKee is Professor of European Public Health and Medical Director at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. He is also Research Director of the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies and Past President of the European Public Health Association. He trained in medicine and public health and has written extensively on health and health policy, with a particular focus on countries undergoing political and social transition.
Susan Michie is Professor of Health Psychology and Director of the Centre for Behaviour Change at University College London, UK.. Professor Michie’s research focuses on human behaviour change in relation to health and the environment: how to understand it theoretically and apply theory and evidence to intervention and policy development, evaluation and implementation. Her research, collaborating with disciplines such as information science, environmental science, computer science and medicine, covers population, organisational and individual level interventions. She has published more than 500 research articles and is one of the world’s most highly cited behavioural scientists.
Jarosław Neneman, PhD, is an assistant professor at Faculty of Economics and Sociology at University of Łódź, earlier at Łazarski University in Warsaw. In years 2004-2005, 2006 and 2014-2015 Undersecretary of State at the Ministry of Finance responsible for tax policy and legislation. In years 2010-2014 voluntary counselor to the Polish President dealing with local governments. Since 2011 Chairman of the Council of the Center of Tax Documentation and Studies Foundation in Lodz. While not working for the Ministry of Finance, he teaches Microeconomics, Public Finance, Managerial Economics, Introduction to Game Theory and Tax Policy, alongside writing reports on tax issues and textbooks on applied economics for students.
Peter Nijkamp is emeritus Professor in regional and urban economics and in economic geography at the VU University, associated with the Open University of the Netherlands (OU), Heerlen (the Netherlands), and the Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi, Iasi (Romania). He is also affiliated with the School of Public Policy and Management at the most prestigious university in China, Tsinghua University in Beijing. He participates in many international scholarly networks. He is an active and recognized academic who has published more than 2000 articles and books in the field of regional development, urban growth, quality of life, poverty and inequality, transport and the environment. His citation index and H index are extraordinarily high. He is a Fellow of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Sciences (KNAW). He has served as president of the governing board of the Netherlands Research Council (NWO). He is also a Fellow over several foreign academies. He is a celebrated speaker at many international conferences. In 1996, he was awarded the most prestigious scientific prize in the Netherlands, the Spinoza award. He is vice-president of the Regional Science Academy (TRSA). He is involved in many research activities all over the world.
Mark Parascandola, PhD, MPH, is Director of the Research and Training Branch in the Center for Global Health at the National Cancer Institute (NCI). He received his Doctorate in Philosophy of Science from Cambridge University and his Master of Public Health degree in Epidemiology from the Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health. He has authored over 75 published articles on global cancer prevention, implementation science, tobacco control, and epidemiologic research methodology. Dr. Parascandola has served as an Embassy Science Fellow and expert advisor on tobacco control, air pollution and health at the U.S. Embassies in Beijing, China, and Warsaw, Poland.
Małgorzata Pikala, completed her PhD in Epidemiology (Medical University of Lodz, 2013), MSc in Cybernetics and Informatics (University of Lodz, 1987; Lodz University of Technology, 2002). She is a Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, the Chair of Social and Preventive Medicine of the Medical University of Lodz. Her research and scientific interests focus on biostatistics and epidemiological studies. Author of numerous publications in this field. Reviewer of many scientific papers. Member of the Polish Society of Social Medicine and Public Health, Polish Cardiac Society of and European Society of Cardiology.
Katarzyna Połtyn-Zaradna, PhD, public health specialist. She works at the Department of Population Health (Division of Population Studies and Prevention of Noncommunicable Diseases) at Wroclaw Medical University. She is engaged as a researcher in the Polish cohort of the Prospective Urban and Rural Epidemiological Study (PURE). She is also the Manager of the Population Cohort Study of Wroclaw Citizens - PICTURE. Her areas of expertise include public health, epidemiology of noncommunicable diseases and tobacco control.
Krzysztof Przewoźniak – Doctor of medical sciences, sociologist of health and medicine, specialist in the field of epidemiology and prevention of civilization diseases as well as health promotion. Researcher at the National Research Institute of Oncology in Warsaw and Calisia University – Kalisz, Poland. Lecturer at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles and Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. Associate of Collegium Civitas in Warsaw. President of the “Smart Health – Health in 3D” Foundation and member of the board of the European Network for Smoking and Tobacco Prevention. Coordinator, main researcher or manager of over 160 research, research and development or educational and intervention projects. Author or co-author of 339 articles and scientific monographs, research reports and expert opinions as well as popular scientific publications (IF = 373.87; H-Index = 20).
Ewa Sałkiewicz-Munnerlyn, PhD, the Polish diplomat, working at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1991 to 2018. Former charge d’affaires at the Polish Embassy to the Holy See between 1993 and 1994. Polish consul at the Consular Division of the Polish Embassy in Washington D.C. between 1995 and 1999. She has been working several times as a short term observer of the OSCE during parliamentary and presidential elections in Ukraine, Russia, Moldova and Belarus.
Mindaugas Štelemėkas, PhD, is the Head of Health Research Institute, and an Assoc. Prof. at the Department of Preventive Medicine at the Faculty of Public Health, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences. The background education is Public Health and Health Economics, and the main area of academic interest is behavioral health risk factors such as alcohol and tobacco.
Janusz Szymborski, MD, Professor of Pediatrics, after 25 years of clinical work, he has been involved in the field of public health for almost three decades. Between 1989 and 1991 Deputy Chairman of the Commission of Health in Parliament of Poland, between 1996 and 2001 Director of National Research Institute of Mother and Child in Warsaw. Since 2003, a professor at the Wszechnica Polska University in Warsaw, currently a professor at the University of Kalisz. Member of the Government Population Council.
Aneta Tomaszewska, PhD in Health Sciences, Lecturer at the Department of Prevention of Environmental Ha­zards, Allergology, and Immunology at the Medical University of Warsaw. Public health specialist and researcher in population-based epidemiological studies on representative samples in the field of health and disease determinants, such as: Epidemiology of Allergic Diseases in Poland (allergy and environment), Global Adult Tobacco Survey (tobacco), National Health Program (nutrition and nutritional status of adults), and MedFake (attitudes towards vaccinations). Educator and author of teaching programs on scientific research methodology, observational and experimental studies, including clinical trials. She has also organized numerous scientific and training events, including two international congresses on health priorities during the Polish Presidency of the European Union Council.
Andrzej Trybusz, MD, PhD, served in many units and divisions of the army, including the Healthcare Directorate of Central Staff of the Polish Armed Forces. In years 2001-2006 he was the Chief Sanitary Inspector, and subsequently, Greater Poland District Sanitary Inspector, between 2006 and 2020. Currently, he is employed as a visiting professor at the Calisia University. Doctor of Medical Sciences. Doctor of psychiatry, epidemiology, public health, and organization of healthcare specialist.
Aurelijus Veryga, PhD, is currently a Member of Parliament (Seimas) of the Republic of Lithuania, former Minister of Health (2016-2020). He came to politics from being an active researcher and a professor at the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences as well as active non-governmental activist in the field of tobacco and alcohol control. His background education is psychiatrist.
Robert West is Professor Emeritus of Health Psychology at University College London. He specialises in behaviour change and smoking cessation. He is former Editor-in-Chief of the academic journal, Addiction, and has acted as an advisor to the UK Government and currently advises the Welsh Government. He has published more than 900 scientific papers and is one of the world’s top cited smoking cessation experts.
Andrzej Wojtyła, MD, PhD, paediatrician, assistant professor in medical sciences, former Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Deputy Minister of Health, and Chief Sanitary Inspector in Poland. He was a visiting Professor at Georgetown University and secretary general of the World Organization of Rural Medicine. Since 2018, he has served as Rector of the President Stanisław Wojciechowski Calisia University in Kalisz, Poland.
Paulina Wojtyła-Buciora, PhD, Professor at the Calisia University, Head of the Department of Public Health. Lecturer at the Department of Physiology at the Poznan University of Medical Sciences. Technical Editor and Editorial Secretary at the Journal of Health Inequalities.
Katarzyna Zatońska, MD, PhD, Head of the Department of Population Health at the Wrocław Medical University. Vice-Dean for Postgraduate Medical Training at the Wrocław Medical University. Visiting Professor at the Calisia University. Specialty in Diabetology, Specialty in Public Health (in progress). Coordinator of the Polish branch of Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiological (PURE) Study and Population Cohort Study of Wrocław Citizens (PICTURE). Main areas of interest: population health, epidemiology, public health, health promotion.
Witold Zatoński, MD, Professor of medical sciences, honorary doctor of the University of Aberdeen in United Kingdom. Between 1966 and 1979 he worked as an internist (post-doctoral degree) and as a biochemist at the Medical Academy in Wrocław, Poland. Then, until 2016 he was the director in the Division of Epidemiology and Prevention at the Maria Skłodowska Curie Memorial Cancer Centre and Institute of Oncology in Warsaw. Professor Zatoński is the founder and president of the Health Promotion Foundation. Currently, Director of the Institute – European Observatory of Health Inequalities at the Calisia University, Kalisz, Poland.
Tomasz Zdrojewski, MD, PhD, Professor at the Medical University of Gdańsk; clinician, internist, academic teacher and researcher at the Medical University of Gdańsk and the National Institute of Public Health – National Institute of Hygiene in Warsaw. An expert in the field of monitoring, prevention, and modelling of non-communicable diseases and health policy. Since 2012, chairman of the Public Health Committee of the Polish Academy of Sciences.
Bartłomiej Żyłka, lawyer, graduate of the Faculty of Law and Administration of the University of Silesia in Katowice and the University of Economics in Katowice. Member of the European Association of International Law (ESIL) and the International Association of Public Law (ICON Society). Author and co-author of articles in the field of European law and public law publications.

BOX 3. BRIEF SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS FROM THE CALISIA WORLD CONFERENCE ON FAMILY HEALTH

Working groups (in alphabetical order):

Prof. Łukasz Balwicki, Dr. Alicja Basiak-Rasała, Adam Bertscher, Prof. Martin Gorsky, Dr. Aleksandra Herbeć, Kinga Janik-Koncewicz, Dr. Britta Matthes, Dr. Jarosaw Neneman, Zuza Opolska, Dr. Mark Parascandola, Dr. Krzysztof Przewoźniak, Dr. Mindaugas Stelemekas, Prof. Katarzyna Sygit, Prof. Janusz Szymborski, Dr. Aneta Tomaszewska, Prof. Andrzej Trybusz, Prof. Witold Zatoński

Summary of session 1: Public health – panel discussion

1. Historical research has demonstrated the essential role of science in public health. Amidst emerging public health threats, climate change, and global conflict, we live in a critical time with regard to both public health and the importance of science.
2. Health is not solely about health care, but also encompasses prevention, health promotion, and attention to social welfare.
3. Evidence based strategies for tobacco control exist, but sustained, focused effort is needed to ensure their implementation.
4. Rigorous data collection and analysis is critical to monitor the impact of health policies and inform future strategies. This includes maintaining large scale population-based cohort studies as well as regular collection of health and economic data.
5. In recent years and across multiple countries we have seen progress in health stalled or moving backwards. Understanding the driving factors and translating this knowledge to policy makers is essential to reverse these trends.

Summary of session 2: Health recession. Development of health situation in Poland

1. A health recession has been observed in Poland over the last 20 years. In the years 1990-2002, the health gain in Poland was one of the largest in Europe (at that time, Poland had one of the highest increases in Human Development Index). In the early 2000s, however, the rate of improvement unexpectedly slowed down. In recent years (2019-2021), the average life expectancy in Poland has decreased by 2 years, and was estimated in 2021 at 71.7 years for men and 79.6 years for women.
2. One of the main drivers of the recent decline in the health of Poles is the weakening of public health regulations. The Act on Upbringing in Sobriety and Counteracting Alcoholism of October 26, 1982 was considered one of the strongest alcohol control regulations in the OECD. But since 2000 it has been weakened, including through a 30% reduction in alcohol tax in August 2002.
3. For incomprehensible reasons, one of the world’s best tobacco control programs – the Polish "National program to reduce the health effects of tobacco smoking" has been almost completely stopped. The implementation of the provisions of the Act of 1995 on protection of health against the consequences of using tobacco and tobacco products was changed. Moreover, in the middle of the second decade of the 21^st century (since 2013-2014), the implementation and financing of preventive activities and programs in both largest national health programs of oncology and cardiology were significantly weakened and reduced.
4. The dismantling of public health regulations has resulted in an increase of exposure of the Polish population to alcohol. It led to a dramatic increase in mortality from alcohol-attributable diseases, especially alcoholic liver cirrhosis (in both adult men and women of all age groups). While cigarette consumption in Poland declined steadily from the 1980s, this trend ended in 2015 after which cigarette sales increased from 41 to 50 billion cigarettes (by 20%) between 2015 and 2022.
5. The increase in alcohol consumption and the growing sales of cigarettes have likely contributed to the reversal of the decreasing trends in mortality from cardiovascular diseases observed in recent years. If cigarette consumption is not curbed, similar changes are expected in the trends of mortality from tobacco-related diseases, especially lung cancer mortality, which is currently still declining in Poland.
6. The dismantling of public health regulations also includes changes to complex economic excise tax policies on alcohol and cigarettes. The affordability of alcohol and cigarettes has increased in Poland, where cigarettes and alcohol are among the cheapest in Europe. Tax policies on tobacco and alcohol should account for the effects of inflation and target affordability.

Summary of session 3: Treatment of tobacco dependence/Cytisine. History, methods and future of tobacco control and treatment

1. Decades of research and new studies bring continuous support for cytisine as the most effective, affordable, and safest medication for smoking cessation.
2. Cytisine is considered by experts as the future of tobacco control globally and increasing number of countries license it for quitting smoking.
3. Annual sales of over the counter cytisine reach million packages in Poland, but these purchases are not accompanied by the relevant behavioural support.
4. Cytisine is not used in the clinical settings in Poland, where it would have the biggest impact, and healthcare professionals do not routinely support patient to quit smoking.
5. Behavioural science should inform the development, implementation and evaluation of future interventions to treat tobacco dependence.
6. Artificial intelligence, such as a tool developed at UCL, can be used to identity the most effective components of future stop smoking interventions for different patient groups and contexts.
7. Future work in Poland should focus on: implementing routine and technology-supported stop smoking interventions in healthcare settings and researching and supporting with behavioural support the population-based, over-the-counter use of cytisine.

Summary of session 4: Unhealthy commodities and monitoring of big industries

1. The Commercial Determinants of Health framework has been developed by Anna Gilmore as an important conceptual model to help guide research into how industries impact health in the short term, long term and in different sectors of society and at different governance levels.
2. Tobacco industry influence is a major barrier to developing effective tobacco control policy, but this extends to many “unhealthy commodities industries” (UCIs) such as tobacco, alcohol and unhealthy foods and others. The industries use similar impact techniques across time and locations.
3. A large range of work as gone into understanding and refining the concept of UCI influence on policy and how it impacts health. Such work helps us to prevent and predict UCI interference, for example, there are two main strategies that UCIs use to influence policy: discursive strategies and instrumental strategies (e.g., tactics). UCIs adapt their strategies for different country contexts, such a low- and middle-income countries.
4. There is a wide range of industry monitoring work, including monitoring industry business and policy influencing behaviours. The Tobacco Industry Interference Index is an example of this, which is conducted all over the world, including Poland and in with the coordination and collaboration with colleagues at University of Bath.
5. Recent work suggests a wide range of “interventions” or “solutions” that could be explored to prevent and mitigate UCI influence on policy. Systems thinking is one approach to advancing research into this area.

Summary of session 5: Essential nutrients and health

1. Changes in food consumption in Poland, especially in fat consumption (substitution of animal fat with vegetable oils) in the beginning of the 1990s played an important role in shaping the health status of Poles and led to a sharp decrease in CVD mortality.
2. Special role in beneficial health changes from the beggining of 1990s played alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) from rapeseed oil, what was documented by Walter Willett in his “Nutritional epidemiology” book.
3. Nutrition quality should be explored in specific age groups: children, youth and adults. Nutritional practices in children do not meet criteria of nutritional guidelines. The most characteristic is insufficient number and irregularity of meals, and insufficient food products (i.e. energetic drinks). Poor nutrition in children and youth results in serious health consequences.
4. The pandemic deepened the burden of consequences of poor nutrition. Obesity increased during the pandemic: 28% of adult Poles declared increased body weight.
5. Fourteen percent (14%) of deaths may be attributed to excessive weight (BMI ≥ 25). Among adults, 66% of men, and 49% of women are overweight or obese in Poland. Percentage of excess weight increases with age.
6. There is a need for good quality epidemiological studies, especially prospective cohort studies to monitor nutritional status of population and plan prevention strategies. Especially in the COVID-19 era, there was a lack of balanced diet, proper level of physical activity and maintenance of normal weight.

Summary of session 6: Inequalities: methods, tobacco, alcohol

1. History provides important lessons to understand what worked to change health policy and behaviour.
2. Inequalities in tobacco and alcohol use are increasing by education and income.
3. Inequalities in tobacco and alcohol use also change over time. For example, as exhibited by the sex difference in tobacco use in early years and the current youth uptake of e-cigarettes.
4. Policy gaps or loopholes may create unintended disparities, such as with flavoured, disposable e-cigarettes or small single serving alcohol bottles.
5. It is important to look not only at overall trends but also at who may be left behind. A move towards an endgame strategy for tobacco could also reduce disparities.

Summary of session 7: COVID-19, infodemic

1. The contrasting experiences of Norway and Poland illustrate the impact of different public health strategies in the COVID-19 pandemic. Norway was characterized by one of the lowest levels of mortality due to COVID-19 and the smallest reductions in economic activity. A public health strategy framework should be developed for the future measures in the event of an epidemic.
2. The introduction of appropriate restrictions by the state administration during the epidemic, as well as their adherence, may have a decisive impact on controlling the number of infections and deaths, especially in the first phase, when vaccinations are not yet available. Pandemic control efforts should be evidence and science-based. In Poland, unfortunately, there was a conflict of scientific experts with the state administration, which was announced in a publication in the Lancet. International organizations in the field of health protection, especially WHO and ECDC, should establish uniform criteria based on scientific evidence that would allow for an objective assessment of the scale of the epidemic and health effects. The COVID-19 pandemic revealed the unsatisfactory state of preparation of the health care system in Poland for effective actions to respond to a novel pandemic.
3. The only objective method of comparing COVID-19 mortality between countries is excess deaths. Specific countries differed in their definitions of certifying COVID-19 as the underlying cause of death. This has made both the national and global assessment of the spread of the effects of the pandemic incomplete.
4. The COVID-19 pandemic has been accompanied by disinformation (“fake news” and misleading claims) on an unprecedented scale. WHO in February 2020 referred to this phenomenon as an “infodemic”. The result of this “infodemic” has been an erosion of trust in medical authorities, as well as lack of understanding of the pandemic, the risks associated with it, and the need to take preventive measures, including the special role of vaccinations. This is a serious signal for education and health promotion that the problems of health risks, their understanding, knowledge of the principles of preventive health care must be an important element of education and at the earliest possible stages.
5. Aversion to vaccination against COVID-19 results from a lack of faith in the effectiveness and safety of vaccines, downplaying the disease itself, and erroneous medical beliefs. In Poland, people with ambiguous attitudes towards preventive vaccination constitute the majority of the population aged 15-39. This is a group particularly vulnerable to medical misinformation. Taking advantage of concerns about the safety of vaccinations, especially vaccinations of children, and causing fear by anti-vaccination circles, reinforces the adverse impact of fake medical news, which in the long run increase skepticism of health messages.

INAUGURAL CEREMONY

The first day of the conference was devoted to the inauguration of the Conference and conferment of the honorary degree of Doctor Honoris Causa of Calissia University, Kalisz, Poland upon Professor Peter Boyle FRSE, FFPH, FRCPS(Glas), FRCP(Edin), FMesSci [3, 4] and Doctor Mateusz Zygmunt Zatoński PhD, MA(Hons), MA, MSc(PH), AFHEA [5, 6].
In presence of the Senate of the Calisia University, Rector of the Calisia University, Professor Andrzej Wojtyła, presented scientific profiles of abovementioned candidates. He emphasized that such a ceremony is a unique event for the academic and scientific community, as the title of Doctor Honoris Causa is the highest distinction that a university can award a person who is inspired by science, endowed with an extraordinary mind, and serves as a driving force of progress and guiding light. “Presenting the profile and achievements of Professor Peter Boyle, a world-class scholar, an outstanding organizer, a friend of our University, a noble man, as a university community, we would like to pay tribute to his memory”, the Rector said. In his laudation for Dr. Mateusz Zatoński, Professor Wojtyła emphasized that, despite his short life, Dr. Zatonski became an important scientist and public health leader in Poland and Europe and that his passing deeply moved the scientific community and public health activists around the world. The nomination for the honorary title of Doctor Honoris Causa of Professor Peter Boyle was supported by Professor Carlo La Vecchia from University of Milan, Italy, Professor Gary Macfarlane from University of Aberdeen, UK, and Professor Witold Zatoński from Calisia University, Poland. The nomination of Dr. Mateusz Zatoński was supported by Professor Tomasz Zdrojewski from Medical University of Gdańsk, Poland, and Professor Martin McKee and Professor Martin Gorsky from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK. The Senate of the Calisia University supported both nominations and the Rector of Calisia University read the Senate’s resolution in Latin.
After the ceremony, Professor Theodor Meron, Doctor Honoris Causa of the Calisia University, presented the inaugural lecture “Crimes against humanity, war crimes and jurisdiction,” analysing the state of international criminal justice prior to the invasion by Russia of Ukraine in February 2022. Drawing lessons for the current situation, he emphasized that sustained involvement and investment of states in the future of international criminal justice is essential to effectively respond to crimes against humanity.

SCIENTIFIC MEETING

Following the inaugural lecture by Professor Theodor Meron, the second day of the conference began with a pre-conference session concerning war and accountability in the Ukraine. Professor Olga Butkevych, of the Ukrainian Association of International Law, Ukraine, presented a lecture on “Accountability in present day international law“. Doctor Ewa Sałkiewicz-Munnerlyn, representing Calisia University, discussed whether Russia’s veto authority in the United Nations can be revoked. Bartłomiej Żyłka from the European Society of International Law (ESIL) and International Society of Public Law (ICON Society), Poland, presented the lecture: “Between war crime and genocide, humanitarian international law and the war in Ukraine”. The final presentation of Professor Peter Niij­kamp, Open University, Heerlen, the Netherlands and Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, Iasi, Romania, reviewed the use of digital information and contextual dashboards in local healthcare setting, including a mindmap and application of spatial coronametrics.
The opening session of the main Conference began with welcome addresses. In his welcome speech, Professor Wojtyła reminded the audience that the school has been officially granted the status of a university to begin on October 1st of this year. Professor Witold Zatoński, Director of the Institute – European Observatory of Health Inequalities at the Calisia University, welcomed all participants and provided a brief overview of the main conference topics. Professor Martin Gorsky, Centre for History in Public Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK, illustrated the value of history in addressing today’s public health challenges, mental health, displacement of refugees, and climate change. He described how the COVID pandemic revealed gaps in Western countries’ preparedness to respond to novel infectious diseases. And he emphasized the critical role of research in providing data and solutions to policy makers confronted with public health challenges. Dr. Aurelijus Veryga, Member of Parliament and former Minister of Health of Lithuania, mentioned that the last Calisia Conference was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic while today Europe and the rest of world is facing new challenges and threats to health. Dr. Veryga cited mental disorders among adolescents and young adults, high alcohol consumption, distrust of vaccine effectiveness, and use of electronic nicotine delivery systems as new threats. He emphasized the fundamental importance of the concept of family health at a time when many have lost loved ones to the war in Ukraine.
The remaining sessions of the conference are described in the program outline presented in Box 1. During the conference, designated rapporteurs together with session moderators prepared preliminary brief summaries and conclusions for each session (see Box 3). Going forward, a resolution from the 3^rd Calisia Conference will be elaborated and published in coming months, as was done following the two previous conferences [7, 8].

POSTER SESSION

An integral part of the conference was a poster session, which consisted of 77 posters showing scientific achievements mainly in the field of health sciences. Posters met with great interest among the participants of the conference. Detailed information on poster session will be published soon separately.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:

Conference Organizers would like to thank the Poznań Supercomputing and Networking Center (Poznańskie Centrum Superkomputerowo-Sieciowe) for the technical support at the conference provided in a hybrid way. Photos included in the publication were taken at the request of conference organizers.

DISCLOSURE

The authors report no conflict of interest.

References